Sail With Me Into the Dark
by o-seastarved
Summary: Post 3x11. He is bored and she is restless. It's the perfect time for Caroline to explore her deeper, darker vampire side, and who better than Klaus to guide her? But can she overcome her existential crisis and how long before her friends catch on?
1. Chapter 1

_My first attempt at any TVD fanfiction and Klaus/Caroline! They're my new obsession and I had to try them out. They're surprisingly hard to do, so let me know how I did with them! I'm getting my sea legs though, hopefully it'll come more naturally to me soon. _

_Anyway, this was partially inspired by this fanvid: _.com/watch?v=t10nKVUdcOM _- it's awesome! _

_I don't really know where this is going, but hopefully towards good things! Enjoy! Please review, it'll boost my confidence in this new fandom. :) -Air_

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><p>"You've been acting weird. What's going on with you, Caroline?"<p>

Caroline had been methodically swirling her straw in her diet coke for several minutes, and Elena, ever intuitive, had noticed.

"What?" she piped up. "Nothing, why?"

Elena's eyes squinted. "Oh I don't know, maybe since almost dying on your eighteenth birthday and being saved by the vampire who signed your death warrant in the first place isn't exactly normal."

"Neither is an eighteenth birthday that doesn't actually count," Caroline said, pursing her lips into a pout.

"I just don't understand why he saved you," Elena said.

Caroline shrugged. "So what? It is what it is, Elena, or I'd be dead right now."

Elena was treading on dangerous grounds and Caroline was growing irritable.

"I know. And thank God he did, but now Klaus can come into your house whenever he wants," Elena said.

"Can we stop talking about this please?" Caroline said with an annoyed edge and pushed her drink away from her to plop her elbows on the table in an unceremonious symbolic white flag.

"I just wonder what his angle is," Elena continued to muse.

"Well, Elena, you're the blood bank not me," she said and promptly stood up to gather her purse. Elena watched her walk out, her mouth slightly open in offense.

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><p>Caroline entered her room in a huff. She was agitated, moody and she wasn't particularly sure why. Lunch with Elena certainly didn't help, and shopping after didn't either. She knew school wasn't pointless, she still needed to learn things, but as far as she was concerned she had a good long while to get through school. And the cheer team bake sale was coming up, and organizing the bake party and subsequent event almost nauseated her. Nothing sounded more disgusting to Caroline than fudge brownies.<p>

She dropped her bags unceremoniously on her bedroom floor and fell backwards onto her bed with a heavy sigh. After a few seconds of staring at the ceiling and strumming her fingers on her stomach, she got up. It was stuffy. She threw open the window and a fresh breeze invaded the room. Better.

Once back on her bed she turned on her side. She just wanted to be still. How did people meditate anyway? It wasn't working.

After a few moments she lurched forward and grasped the black velvet box on her bedside table. She opened it slowly, letting the springs creak until they finally snapped open with a jolt like jewelry boxes always do. Thumbing the bracelet carefully, as if she weren't allowed to touch it, the diamonds caught the sunlight from the window. Her breath hitched in her throat and she looked around her before carefully lifting the bracelet from its box and slipping it on her wrist. Once clasped, she jostled her wrist before her, watching the thing shake and shimmer.

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><p>She took to jogging through the woods during classes she didn't quite like and compelled her teachers to turn a blind eye. When Elena, Alaric and Bonnie staged an intervention, she blocked their numbers and took to running in the woods at night.<p>

She couldn't really sleep.

It was 12:15 on a crisp, chilly night and the Black Eyes Peas blared in her ear buds as she weaved in and out of the trees with precision and superhuman speed. On her fourth mile she caught a rustle in the brush out the corner of her eye and heightened her senses, but for the next half mile she could only just catch glimpses; too fleeting to warrant actual concern or it might hurt her vampire pride in her own courage. But by the fifth time she'd had enough. Her rhythm was messed up anyway.

She slowed and finally stopped, pulling the headphone from her ears and circling around in a cautious 360. Nothing.

"Hello?" she called out nervously.

Crickets.

She sighed and lifted an ear bud to nestle back in when—

"Hello, sweetheart."

She heard him behind her before she saw him, and whirled around to find him leaning against a tree trunk, playing with a piece of grass.

"Klaus," she choked out and looked over each of her shoulders. As if that would do anything. "Are you…" she began and narrowed her eyes. "Are you following me?"

He chuckled faintly. "Come now, I was just out for a little jog like you," he said.

"Yeah right," she scoffed and crossed her arms.

"Perhaps you'd like to run with me?" he said with a raise of his eyebrow and promptly curled his knuckles under his white t-shirt and began to pull up.

"W-what are you doing?" Caroline cried, partially confused, partially wishing she hadn't seen the outline of his hipbone that was so angular and pronounced and trailed lower and lower until it disappeared beneath his waistband of his jeans.

Klaus tuned in to the heightened strain in her voice and smiled to himself.

"I told you," he drawled and walked slowly towards her. She stiffened more. He loved it. "I like to run in my natural form, love." His eyes glowed a faint yellow.

"Ew," Caroline said flippantly, but her gaze was caught by his and couldn't turn away. Her heart rate spiked when she thought he could be compelling her then and she dropped her eyes, eyelashes sweeping elegantly downward.

Klaus' smile grew tight as she retreated. "Suit yourself. I'll be seeing you at the Founders' gala on Saturday then?"

She didn't answer. He was about to turn away and break from the inches of space their bodies were sharing together in the woods before something gleaming caught the corner of his eye. He turned back towards her.

"Interesting accessory to wear out for a jog," he said and angled his eyes to the bracelet he had given her, elegantly draped around her wrist. It was a rather funny sight.

Embarrassed, Caroline covered it with her opposite palm.

"Do be sure to wear in on Saturday though," he said with a smile and swiftly changed into a wolf. She jumped a bit at the speed with which he shifted and at the yellow eyes looking up at her before running off into the woods.

Caroline wanted to go home, as she was shaken and her mind was whirling, but she knew she'd never be able to. She kicked the soft earth with the toe of her sneaker and let out a frustrated groan.

She ran five more miles in the opposite direction before heading home that night.

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><p>She was a nervous wreck at the gala on Saturday. Caroline was the kind of girl that got ready with friends, who never showed up anywhere alone, and thrived on giggles and gossip at all times. So when she entered the Forwood's alone, having driven herself in a gown, which was demeaning in and of itself, she felt like crying. She wasn't currently speaking to Elena, Bonnie or Tyler.<p>

A shiver ran through her and she rubbed her arms with each palm up and down before braving the interior and grabbing the first champagne flute that whizzed by.

Four more champagne flutes came and went as the party dragged on. She had noticed Klaus during champagne flute number two and couldn't help trace him around the room as he schmoozed with this and that guest, eating up the attention. But every once and awhile he'd dart his eyes directly to her and they'd meet hers for a split second before she pulled hers away. It was an infuriating cat and mouse game, but it was the only thing keeping her from dying of boredom.

"Hey," a deep voice softly called from behind her.

She turned around, the bubbles of the champagne fizzing slightly in her head.

"Matt, hey," she said and took another swig. She was not looking forward to this conversation, but she decided she really couldn't be picky when the only people to talk to were a choice among Matt, Stefan, Damon and Klaus of all people.

"Look I know you've been going through some stuff since your birthday. I get it, that would mess me up to," he said.

"I'm really fine," she parried immediately. Her mechanical answer.

"No, Car, you're not," Matt cut her off. "But it's okay. Elena and Bonnie might not understand, but I'm here for you, okay?"

Caroline was staring intently down at her feet as she listened, and when she raised her head her eyes were stormy.

"An what is it exactly that you understand about my situation, Matt? Huh? You think it's as simple as I almost died on the one day that I'm supposed to have a thousand more of?"

"Isn't it?" he asked.

Caroline opened her mouth to continue the argument but stopped short when she felt a light touch along her waist from behind and suddenly—

"Terribly sorry, but would you mind if I asked dear Caroline for a dance?"

-Klaus stepped in.

"I would mind, actually," Matt said, face stone cold.

"It's fine, Matt," Caroline stepped in. "Really. Everyone's here. I'll be fine."

She felt calm as he led her to the dance floor side by side, but when his hand, which had been resting on, the small of her back, snapped at the wrist and spun her around so that she was facing him, her resolve was lost. He took up her limp arm in his and began to twirl expertly.

She put on a good show though and held her chin high. Thank God she didn't have to regulate her breathing.

"You look lovely," he finally said, the very example of chivalry.

"What do you want?" she said under her breath.

"Nothing more than to dance in the arms of a beautiful woman. I'm a simple minded kind of man," he said.

"No you're not," she said instantly.

This caught Klaus by surprise. His grip on her hand tightened, but not enough to alarm her quite yet.

"No? And what makes you say that love? Haven't you learned? All I care about is my family, my hybrids and making sure I get what I want from this town and all of your little friends in it."

His face darkened, and his eyes looked as if hidden in shadow. His grip continued to tighten.

Caroline would have been afraid if the thought that had been plaguing her for weeks hadn't been right there in her head, whirling around and around with no answer. It had been her burden to ponder over, but now she faced the possibility of getting an answer, and perhaps some peace.

"No?" she said, feigning braveness and fighting off a waver in her voice. "Then why did you save me, Klaus?"

His eyes seemed to be burning into her flesh as his step quickened to the tempo of the waltz playing. She kept up expertly and his lips spread thin into a tight smile. He pulled her closer and leaned in so she could feel his breath against her ear.

"I could dance with you all night, darling. I'm impressed," he whispered.

She tensed and he twirled her around a few more times, her chin just at his shoulder. After a beat she pulled back to make eye contact once more. "Tell me," she pleaded, earnestly, and in her eyes was the outpouring of genuine distress and desperation.

The smile Klaus so often wore vanished from his visage, and where a scowl usually replaced it there was only a sober expression. Deep and earnest. He nodded curtly.

"Meet me on the upper verandah in forty-five minutes," he whispered very low.

And he was gone. Caroline suddenly found herself in the middle of the dance floor and a bit unbalanced as if on a rocking ship.

* * *

><p>Having snuck upstairs as discreetly as possible, Caroline found Klaus with his back to her, elbows on the stone railing and swilling a tumbler or scotch. She knew he sensed her but he didn't turn around.<p>

She stood for a moment, wanting to retreat, but she finally resolved to see this through and settled herself next to him, looking out to the horizon, lit softly by the moon.

"Didn't think you'd come," he said as he continued to look straight ahead.

"Well I'm here," she said, mimicking his pose.

He shifted his body to the side to face her, perhaps to appear more menacing. "You aren't afraid to be alone with me?" he glowered, challenging her.

Caroline turned to him, resolved to match his every move. "I've already been alone with you, Klaus. Twice," she said and the corners of his lips twitched upward slightly. As did hers. "And I'm not dead yet," she said lightly, almost as a singsong.

He wagged his pointer finger at her approvingly. "That you're not," he said and stopped. Caroline gave him her _'are you kidding me'_ look as he took a generous swig of his drink.

Off of Caroline's look he must have assumed that he'd better stop stalling. "You're the only vampire in this town with potential, Caroline," he began, setting his glass down on the platform stone railing. He took a step towards her and raised his hands to gently cup her face, his fingers just behind her ears and slightly tangled in her hair, while his thumbs settled along the baseline of her jaw.

She felt something like fear culminating in her stomach and confusion, but mostly she felt his proximity and the endless depths of his eyes just inches from her own.

"In a hundred years everything will be different. That is a guarantee," he said slowly, and stressed each word as if scripture. "And in another hundred perhaps we'd meet on a street in Prague or Moscow or Sydney and be reacquainted and you'd forgive me for terrorizing your little town that now would only live as a distant memory in the vast expanse of your immortal existence."

Caroline sucked in an unnecessary breath. All at once his words were terrifying and seductive to her. They were fluid and caressing but underneath held a dark underbelly of a sad truth she'd rather not think about. But then when she thought about the ocean of time before her, and where that time might take her, her heart swelled at the possibilities. And then ached at the potential loneliness of it all.

Her eyes stung with tears that she didn't want her to see, but he was so close and his hands still cupped her face so that she couldn't turn away.

"But you ordered Tyler to do it," she said quietly and her brow furrowed as she processed his explanation. Nothing made sense to her. None of it.

"A bloke can have second thoughts, can't he?" he said quietly, seriously.

Caroline had had enough. She resolved to transform her mushy, weak emotions into stone. In a flurry of movement she managed to push against his chest with both of her palms and send him reeling backwards. He caught himself as he stumbled back a few steps and regained balance.

"Ugh, you make _no _sense," she said in frustration.

"I'd watch it if I were you," he snarled.

She didn't know why, but the way his emotions so easily and so blatantly overtook him amused her. She'd always had a knack for getting under people's skin, but not with these immediate and rather satisfying results.

Caroline cocked her head to the side: instant mean girl. "Oh yeah? What are you going to do? Almost kill me again?" She crossed her arms. "Please."

"I meant what I said," he bit out.

"Here's the thing, Klaus," she said matter of factly and sauntered over to the railing where she picked up his drink, her gown swaying her hips elegantly as she walked. She exuded power but didn't know it.

"You may have hundreds of years of evil plans and cunning manipulations under your belt." She swirled the scotch in her glass as she then made her way closer to him. "But I'm the captain of the cheerleading squad and I know a thing or two about reading people and knowing exactly where to stick the knife." She downed the scotch in one gulp and threw the glass over the ledge of the balcony. "Metaphorically speaking, of course."

His eyes followed her intently until she stopped pacing and stood right before him.

"Want to know what your weakness is, Klaus?" She said saccharinely with a bright, but devious smile.

"Do tell."

"You're a pathetic, lonely little boy. But...we already knew that," she began and then poked her pointer finger right at his heart and leaned in close. "But the tin man wishes there was a heart in that empty metal armor of his," she said.

"Don't mock me, Caroline," he warned and his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist as her fingers were dancing upon his suit jacket teasingly. "And don't ever underestimate how dangerous I am," he squeezed her wrist harder and she tried not to wince. "And how temperamental I can be…as you experienced previously."

His thumb glided over the diamond bracelet that dangled on her captured arm and he smiled.

Caroline began to pull and try to wrestle free fro his grasp. "Let go of me," she said.

He paused before a shift in his features brightened up his visage and he laughed lightly. "I like you," he said with a gleam in his eye and released his grasp.

She rubbed her wrist and backed away towards the door to make her exit.

"And Caroline," he called after her jauntily. She paused but didn't turn around to look at him. "You look exquisite." She balked to herself as her back was turned before walking away.

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><p><strong>Tell me your thoughts! :D <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's an update, finally! So this is definitely taking a turn from the show and I'm trying to toy with a certain darkness with these two. I hope it works and is convincing! Again, this is my first attempt at TVD fiction and Klaroline and it's actually kind of _hard! _I want to do their perfection justice. As always, if you read and enjoy one thing or all things, or don't at all, please review! I'm a rather slow writer and would feast on the encouragement! 3 Air**

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><p>Klaus was at a stalemate with the pesky Salvatores. He was growing increasingly antsy. His hybrids were gone, he'd retrieved three fourths of his coffins back and lately everyone has just been sitting around; going about life. He was bored.<p>

He caught himself one evening wondering when the next Mystic Falls event would take place, as they seem to do almost every week, just so he could get some excitement from bothering all of the annoying little brats and schmoozing with the Council.

But when he caught himself and realized what he was thinking he fumed at what this town had made of him and threw his third edition _War and Peace_ in the fire.

The next day the renovators were working slower than usual and he decided to get out of the house before he was compelled to eat them and set back the finish date even further.

Klaus hadn't been on a stroll through town in the middle of day and found it both sickening but surprisingly quaint. Mystic Falls and its love of history and all of that nonsense. Thankfully, it did boast a used bookstore and an art gallery.

Fifteen minutes later and Klaus barreled out of the gallery in a frustrated huff. Both ventures had been fruitless and he'd used all of his patience in dealing with simple-minded store owners who had never heard of Caitlin or read Saint-Exubery in its original French. He did find a nice fifth edition copy of _East of Eden_ that he settled for.

As he scowled, stalked out of the bookstore and rounded out back onto the sidewalk he caught a glimpse of flaxen curls bobbing up and down and heading right towards him. Instantly his disposition shifted.

"Oh no," he heard as her eyes widened at his approach. "No way," she said and turned on her heel to head the other way.

He was in front of her instantly, having plastered an amused smirk on his face. The day had suddenly ceased being so mundane.

"Hello, love. Out for a bit of shopping, are we?" he said and pointedly took in her bags upon bags of boutique clothing.

"What are you doing?" she said and squinted at him.

"Just out for a stroll. Picked up this," he said and lifted the thick book up on display. "Ever read?"

"Can't say that I have," she said saccharinely and raised her eyebrows when he just simply stood, grinning. "Okay…Bye!" she said and tried to move passed him. Anticipating her direction he took the necessary step back and to the left to properly halt her.

"Oh my God…really?" she said, annoyed as her voice slipped into shrillness.

"How about some lunch?" he asked. He was growing peckish and found Caroline stirred something mischievous and spirited in him.

She scoffed. "That'll be the day. Matt serves me lunch at the Grill with Klaus the evil vampire across from me."

His lips curled up deviously and he saw her expression change and grow curious at his reaction to her sarcasm. Not what she was expecting. Good.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, love," he said and he knew she instantly caught on. They were about two feet apart but still he could sense her blood pumping through her veins around her eyes excitedly. He couldn't help but involuntarily lick his lips as he watched her flush and then reel back from the transformation.

"Sorry, I don't kill people."

"And I don't hunt bunnies. Where did you learn that clever trick? Stefan?"

Caroline stiffened and took a step forward so that she could speak low but insistent. "Have you been watching me?"

"Oh, don't be ashamed, darling, everyone enjoys a midnight snack after a good workout," he said, challenging her and enjoying himself more than he had in days.

"Okay, word of advice, Klaus," she said, putting a hand up as if she were about to tell one of her cheerleaders how to dress. He shifted his weight on his feet in amused anticipation.

"One, divulging information about your seriously creeper behavior will not earn you a lunch consisting of a live-human diet with someone who _hates _you," she said all in one breath. "And two, why are you even talking to me? Don't you have something villainous to go plan for?"

"I promise you won't have to kill anyone," he goaded playfully and she rolled her eyes.

When she tried again to push passed him he let her go, but just enough so that he could catch up to her and walk in step beside her.

"Oh, come on," he said as she continued straight ahead towards her car. "I'm restless. You're obviously restless. I'm hungry, your hungry. I have no friends, you have no friends…" he trailed off when he hit the nerve and she stopped short.

She turned to him, cheeks slightly sucked in and her mouth small and tight, wearing the signs of insult splendidly.

"I bet the similarities are endless," he said, falling into a whisper on the last word.

Without breaking eye contact she shoved her hand in her purse and rattled around in there as she searched for her car keys. She pulled them out and shook her head at him before turning on her heel and yanking her car door open with ferocity.

"If you get tired of stirring in boredom, come and find me," he called after her before she slammed herself inside and drove away, screeching her tires as she jetted off.

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><p>Klaus smiled to himself when his doorbell rang several hours later. He didn't even mind being pulled away from <em>East of Eden<em>, which was better than he had remembered.

"Hello," he said when he swung open his door and just as he had suspected, Caroline stood, nervous, unsure and fidgeting.

"I'm bored, okay?" she huffed and brushed passed him and into the foyer, taking in her surroundings suspiciously by looking up and around. He stood behind her patiently until she whipped around. "And don't flatter yourself, misery loves company," she said.

"Of course not," he obliged and held out a hand to lead her into the grand living room, the most complete room in the house. She continued to study everything with skepticism, from his books, to the type of mugs he used.

She was fingering a piece of crystal on a nearby end table when she said, "What did you mean when you said I didn't have to kill anyone to feed?"

"Ah, baby vampire," he drawled. "I see Stefan trained you."

"And?" she said, turning to him and crossing her arms.

"Stefan has never been one for self-control," he said as he picked up a silver bell and shook it sternly.

A man and a woman walked into the room from a swinging door at the back of the room. They were attractive, with glassy eyes. Caroline's eyes widened and Klaus knew he had to tread carefully, and sell this.

"All you need to do is take a few little nips. Clean the wound, tell them they very _generously_ donated blood for a good cause and send them on their merry way. No harm done."

As he spoke the two people walked across them and stood near the vampires, the woman for Klaus, the man for Caroline, and waited. He made sure never to look away from her; their eyes were locked in and breaking it would break the moment of intensity arising in the room. There began to rise an air of tension, but laced with excitement, seduction, but reserve. Caroline wanted this but she didn't, he knew that well enough.

"Now the trick is being able to stop," he said and pulled his subject's hair back to reveal the side of her neck. Caroline's man sat on the arm of the sofa so that she could reach his. She tentatively stepped forward and looked down at his neck, pulsing and bare and smooth, and then looked to Klaus for reassurance.

He nodded slightly and took the lead, his eyes darkening and his veins throbbing, fangs out. And he softly, as gentle as possibly, sunk his teeth into the woman's throat and began to drink, watching Caroline as he did.

With shaking hands she began to mimic his actions. And when she finally sunk in he could see the outpouring of relief from her body as she closed her eyes and drank, savoring the hot blood in her mouth.

Klaus stopped feeding to watch her. She was even more beautiful when primal; he was entranced by her. The way her blond curls fell in tendrils around her face and she growled softly, almost like a purr.

Soon, though, he noticed her speeding up instead of slowly down. She was growing hungrier and was losing herself in the action.

"Caroline," he called out, firm but soft. She didn't look up. "Caroline," he said more insistently. Nothing.

Finally he strode forward and unlatched her from the man's jugular and she reeled back, her mouth and chin stained red and her eyes glowing bright and feral. She was breathing hard, hyperventilating it seemed, and let out a strangled half sob as she brought the back of her hand to her mouth to cover it.

Klaus was right before her, steadying her by holding each shoulder and then tilted her chin up with his thumb and pointer finger so that she would look up at him.

"Hey now, love, it's all right," he said softly and her eyes were wide and searching. "It takes practice but might I add you did excellently," he added, but she still wouldn't respond, her face still contorted in panic.

"Isn't that right, Victor?" he called over his shoulder.

"Yes sir," Victor replied happily as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and stood up. "See? Not even lightheaded. And always for a good cause."

"Thank you, Victor, you and Madeline can go now. We appreciate your service to society," Klaus said diplomatically, though he continued to stare directly and fiercely into Caroline's eyes until she could calmed and her bloodlust receded.

Several heavy, quiet seconds passed after the two left the house and finally Caroline came to. Klaus stepped back and pivoted around his planted left foot dashingly in a sort of manly twirl.

"Now, wasn't that exhilarating?" he said.

"Exhilarating?" she Caroline said. "Are you kidding? I could have killed him!"

"But you didn't and like I said, not my fault," he responded with a pointed finger that slightly wagged as he prepared to pour himself a drink.

He turned his back to her and privately smirked to himself, since he could practically see her fuming behind him.

When he turned he certainly didn't expect to see her rushing him and sending him reeling back into the wall with two tiny palms like solid stone. He felt the plaster crack behind him and he mentally cursed to himself that he'd have to remind his carpenters to fix that tomorrow.

But in the meantime—"You really like to shove, don't you, pet?"

He still held his crystal carafe out to his left, and she grabbed it from him and smashed it against the bar cart, sending whiskey everywhere and creating a jagged edge of the neck. She brought it up to his neck as she pinned him against the wall. The smell of clove and oak and deep amber spices filled his nostrils as he sucked in, not from fear, but from the proximity of her.

"Let's get something straight, Klaus, since you seem to have trouble listening, all right?" she said, down to business.

"Quite."

"You can't be trusted," she said matter of factly.

He nodded as much as the sharp protruding edge of the bottleneck would allow him

"Naturally."

"I don't like you."

"Give it time, perhaps you'll warm to me," he said and she pushed the glass into his skin, threatening to puncture.

She hesitated for a moment, seeming to work through something in her mind. She opened her mouth once to speak but instead licked her lips. Finally her eyes turned steely and she set her jaw in a resolved and determined position.

"Can you—" she started and paused again. "Can you really teach me to be a better vampire?" she asked and averted her eyes from his.

He looked at her as if trying to see through her entirely. She was filled with power and durability but at the same time utterly unsure and doubting. One thing was for sure, she was so much more than a pretty blond thing who bossed around other, less pretty blond things around on the fields after school, and he knew she sensed it too.

"Yes," he said simply. Honestly.

"Not evil," she said. "Just better."

He nodded again and she stepped back, releasing him from her entrapment. Though they both knew he allowed her that satisfaction. He rubbed his neck where the glass had pressed.

"You know that was eighty year old whiskey in that carafe," he said and she shrugged.

"Oops," she said dryly.

* * *

><p>They began to run together at night. It was an unspoken thing. He'd change to wolf form and find her off in distance, weaving through trees, and he'd join her. He'd run by her side unacknowledged in the quiet of the night and not say a word.<p>

Of course the first time he almost changed back and she instantly put a hand up. She rolled her eyes as she probably found it silly to be talking to a canine who could understand her.

"Whoa, I don't think so, buddy. If you think I want to see you naked and dirty in the woods every night you seriously need to reconsider things," she said and he ran off.

So they'd meet under the moon and never speak, just run.

Klaus couldn't help but find it serene, and wholly enjoyable. The rustle of the leaves at their feet, the sound of her breathing, the way they weaved through trees and skipped over roots with expert agility and grace. And they would go five miles, then seven and then ten and part. And first it was twice a week, then three and then five.

Every week on Tuesdays she would skip lunch period and come over for a lesson in restrained feeding. They never spoke of their nightly rendezvous.

"Okay now I'll count to five and you have to stop, no excuses," he would say.

"Whatever I stopped at ten yesterday," she would say.

"Yes, that was yesterday," he'd say with a tight smile. "And today I'm cutting it in half and you're not going to be a very happy baby vampire when you're hungry and just getting started."

"You get off on this student-teacher thing don't you?" she would say and grab onto the live subject of the week.

"Not when you insist on being so contrary to everything I say, Caroline," he said with the exact exasperated tonality of a worn out teacher.

"Thought so!" she teased and sank her teeth into the man in front of her.

He began to count:

One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

Five…..

"Caroline!" he said in not quite a yell, but in just as an effective manner of speaking sternly when she refused to detach from her victim right away. At his reprimand she pulled back and stumbled as she often did—like a magnetic force was pulling her to this man's jugular and to break the pull she had to force herself away.

Her bloodlust would pump through her veins, having been rejuvenated and empowered by not only blood, but the fresh, warm pulsing blood only a living human could provide. Klaus knew the feeling well. It was a drug unlike any other, and it could consume you.

She backpedaled to the wall and braced her arm against it before sliding down and sitting, sprawled out on the ground trying to catch her breath.

He crouched down next to her as she shook with the need to drink more.

"That's right, fight it off, love," he said soothingly and reached out to wipe the blood from the corners of her lips and bring it to his own. She watched him hungrily as he did so and took deep, calculated breaths in order to regulate and slow the new blood powering her heart.

"I can't," she said in a strangled half-sob between breaths. "I can't do it," and she clutched her hands over her heart and pressed down hard.

Her back was flush against the wall, knees to her chest, and in order to keep her still he settled each one of his knees on either side of her, his feet tucked under him.

"Caroline," he cooed.

"I feel like…." She began and squeezed her eyes shut. "I feel like my heart's going to burst….right out of my chest."

"Just hang on, love," he said and settled his palms over her knees and stared directly into her eyes. "Hang on," he whispered. And they stayed like that for another few minutes until she calmed.

* * *

><p>"I don't want to do this anymore. It sucks," she said one afternoon, standing in his foyer.<p>

Klaus mocked a wounded heart and clutched it, dipping backwards as he let his knees sag just a bit. "Oh come on, just when we were about to have a spot of fun," he said.

She crossed her arms. "Really?" she said. "Fun? I don't qualify having a meltdown every Tuesday at lunch very _fun._"

Klaus refused to take no for an answer. He stalked forward and took her by the arm and began to drag her like a schoolboy would into the living room. Luckily, she only stood firm enough to create moderate resistance.

"Hey, Klaus!" she squealed.

"Now I know you're not a quitter, Caroline," he said as she half-heartedly began a tantrum. "And doesn't our friend Scott over here look tasty?" he asked as he swung her around so that she was now in front of him. He stood behind her and lay his hands delicately on either side of her waist. He felt her tense, but wasn't sure if at a spike in bloodlust or their proximity. He hoped it was both.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asked, his lips grazing her hair, inches from her ear.

She hesitated before nodding.

"Good," he said higher, cheerily and promptly snapped his left wrist so that she spun around to face him.

She let out a squeak of surprise and gulped when she looked up at him, closer perhaps than they'd ever been.

"I have a proposition for you," he said with a sly upturn of his lips.

"And what's that?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

He let go of her and stepped back, snapped his fingers, and Scott was before him. Klaus took the man's wrist and promptly sunk his teeth in and took a few generous gulps before releasing his arm, which then swayed at his side and dripped spatters of blood onto the hardwood floor below.

Caroline's eyes were on Scott's arm as Klaus spoke. "You've been drinking human blood now and that makes you stronger," he said and her eyes shot up to him. "Faster. More alert and responsive."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah and also way more neurotic and emotional and psycho. It's like just being turned again, I can barely live with myself I'm all like _ahhhh,_" she said with an emphatic gesture around the orbit of her head which he took as some sort of crazy scientist image of Einstein's hair.

"Welcome to the club, sweetheart," he smiled and plopped himself down on the couch, lifting up his legs to cross his feet on the ottoman in front of him. "Now you know I'm not one to necessarily curb my impulses," he said.

"Gee, that's completely new information," she said sarcastically and made her way to an adjacent chaise and fell back on it with a pout.

"But it's possible if you want it…" he trailed off.

"Blah blah blah, enough with the preachy lessons, can I eat now please?" she said in annoyance. Scott took a step towards her but Klaus put a hand up to halt him. Caroline groaned in frustration and threw her head back against the pillow.

"Let's go out tonight. To the Grill," he said.

She laughed incredulously. "If you think I'm going to be seen in public with you…you're insane."

"It's time you learned how to take a sip and control yourself in a crowded environment," he said and beckoned Scott to him to take another drink. Caroline's eyes followed like a hawk.

"No way, I'm not doing that with Elena and company crawling around. I'm not suicidal," she said.

"Suit yourself, love. Though you have no _idea_ how exhilarating it can be." He was licking the trails of blood from his fingers and Caroline got up, expecting her turn.

He rose at super speed to come between her and the boy. "Ah ah ah," he said. "No Scott for you today." And he sent him away into the kitchen.

Caroline let out a cry of frustration. "Fine!" she practically yelled out and stomped towards the door. "And I'm not going to the stupid Grill tonight," she called and slammed the door behind her.

Klaus couldn't help but smile. "See you at nine, then?" he called after her.

She would be there.

* * *

><p>He chose a dark corner booth in the divided section in the back and ordered a scotch neat…and waited. There was live music tonight, and it wasn't ear splitting, thank God. He spotted Alaric and Damon at the bar, pounding back shot after shot, and luckily no one else.<p>

It was 10:30 by the time Caroline walked in, sifting her eyes over the crowd nervously. He leaned forward and cupped his drink with both hands and waited. He watched her notice Damon and Alaric and quickly dart away from the bar and through the crowd. He watched her awkwardness at being there alone and idle, and finally lost her as she climbed the steps up to his section and made her way passed his booth.

"Caroline," he called out quietly, knowing it'd reach her ears. She stopped and looked around before slinking into the booth.

"At least you have enough sense to pick the most shadowy booth," she said as she took off her coat.

"Care for a drink?" he asked and held up his hand for the waiter.

She shielded herself in an instant.

"Now, now," he said with a hint of playfulness. "You're hurting my feelings," he said.

"Like you have any to hurt," she said.

That kind of stung.

"Oh God, Matt's the server. Shit," she said and got up. "I'm going to the bathroom. Make sure he doesn't come back," she ordered, low and stern and left before Matt swooped in.

Klaus smiled at the guy's surly look and ordered.

When she returned, a ridiculous ten minutes later, a whiskey sour was waiting for her.

"Is he gone?" she asked.

"Very," he said.

"Wait, what is _that _supposed to mean?" she said as her eyes widened.

Klaus burst out laughing and swung his head down to chuckle.

"You really think I'd off Matt just like that?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're capable of doing on a whim," she parried.

Klaus suddenly sobered. He inched his way around the rounded corner of the table and closer to her in the booth.

"Rest assured, I'm not interested in upsetting you," he said, the words weighted and heavy in the air between them.

She had no answer, so she grabbed her drink and took a very large gulp and set it down, her eyes down at the table and her palms spread out on its surface.

"How'd you know whiskey sours were my favorite drink?" she asked softly.

"Lucky guess," he said and matched her tone. "You don't strike me as a French kiss, lemon drop, appletini kind of girl."

"Most people do," she said and bit her lip, trying to hide how much a silly thing like that really affected her. She smiled and took another sip, but her eyes were deep and heartrending.

"I know," he said and straightened his back against the back of the booth. "And I'm not most people." He stood up, extended his hand. "Now, let's go have a lesson."

She stalled, tapped her foot for a moment before downing her drink and taking his hand to follow.

She gripped his hand as they weaved through the crowd, and she stayed close, nudging his arm as they did.

"So how exactly does this work?" she asked.

"Divide and seduce," he said with a turn of his head towards her, a bright mischief in his eye. "You up for it?"

A challenge. He knew she'd bite.

"Are you kidding?" she said with sly smile and broke from his grasp. She tousled her hair and reached into her back pocket to reapply some lip-gloss.

"Game on, Nik," she said and sauntered away from him, scoping the back of the Grill for a remotely hot, and probably dumb guy.

He was stone walled for an moment, paralyzed at hearing Rebekah's nickname for him come out of Caroline's mouth and from the fact that he didn't hate it.

Soon he spotted a pretty brunette and began some mindless chatting. He made sure to position himself so he could view Caroline as he chatted about his accent, the band and whatever else happened to be the most vapid and dry topics in the universe that could cross this girl's mind.

After a few minutes he found himself growing impatient and he had the most concentrated urge to snap the girl's neck. He rolled his eyes and finally locked in with hers and dilated.

"Listen to me," he began and her stare was blank and willing. "You're going to shut up and wait here with me while I wait for my pretty young friend to finish up. Then we're going to go out back and I'm going to bite your neck and drink your blood and we'll be done here. Understand?"

She nodded and promptly stood still, her back to Caroline and the large, muscled jock she was talking to. Klaus zeroed in.

"Yes I can do a split! … maybe I'll show you sometime … well you've never asked … you sure about that, cowboy?"

Cowboy? He couldn't help but smile.

Finally she took the boy's hand and led him like a salivating puppy dog on a leash towards the back exit. She passed by Klaus on the way and raised a pointed eyebrow and turned up her lips into a wicked smile. He willingly followed suit.

Once outside the crisp air hit his face and perked him up instantly.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Klaus said.

"Who the hell is this guy?" jock guy asked.

"Oh, you haven't compelled him yet?" he asked, his girl loitering patiently behind him.

Caroline tilted her head. "Sorry I liked the challenge, cheater," she said.

"We never set rules, love," Klaus said back with a tight smile.

"What the fuck is going on here?" jock guy yelled. "And why is she just wavering over there? Who is she?" he pointed at Klaus' date.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Ugh, shut up, Carl," she said and turned to him, locking into his eyes.

"I'm going to bite you. When I'm finished you're going to go away, forget what happened and never talk to me again. Got it, bonehead?"

Jock guy nodded.

Caroline turned to Klaus with a frown.

"What now?" he said, exasperated.

"I've lost interest in biting him," she said.

"Really?" he said. It was his time to turn on the sarcasm.

"He's just so...boneheady and stupid and he probably tastes like steroids," she pouted.

"Fine!" he practically growled and grabbed his date's arm. "We'll share. She's pretty enough and I doubt she's teeming with chemicals."

"Not prettier than me," she muttered.

"Of course not," he acquiesced, but also meant it and cocked his head for her to approach.

Caroline advanced towards the girl from behind and swept back her hair, staring over her shoulder at Klaus.

"Beat it, Carl," she said without breaking her eye contact. When he was gone around the building, she extended her teeth. "Five or ten?" she asked, her voice practically dripping with bloodlust.

"Live a little, love. Call it ten," he said and softly lifted the girl's wrist to his lips.

In perfect unison, they sank into her flesh. It wasn't vicious, like ripping, like he was used to. He followed her lead; it was soft and the blood flowed like velvet into his mouth. He counted as he watched her, eyes closed and savoring everything. He stopped at five and just gazed. She was stunning.

"Ten, love," he whispered, hating to interrupt her, but knowing she'd hate him if he let her kill the girl.

She whimpered quietly and finally dislodged her teeth from the girl's neck and stepped back, breathing heavily from the exhilaration.

"Leave," Klaus ordered the girl and she stumbled away.

He stood before her and waited. She was trying to get a grip, trying to reign it all in, compose herself for the public. Her mouth was stained a gorgeous red and her eyes were wild and when her eyes swept up to his and locked in, there was suddenly an electric current between them. His ears were ringing, his heart pumping with fresh blood, and with the salty metallic taste still on his lips, he lunged forward, crushing the current that had been humming between them, and crushed his lips to hers.

Terse at first, still, until she parted hers slightly, allowing him to deepen and sweep his lips rhythmically over hers. She was rigid and at first only responded to his ministrations, until he snaked his hands under her ears and in her hair and she finally surged forward with momentum. They devoured each other, messy and feverish and with each second the electricity intensified, the blood mingled, and finally, as if too much to handle it broke and crashed and she pulled herself away.

It was Klaus' turn to pant as he took in the sight of her tangled hair, her smeared chin and swollen lips. She brought her sleeve to her mouth and wiped, looked up at him, first with a nondescript intensity, then with a look of shock.

"Oh God," she choked out and barreled past him, breaking free from his attempt to grab her arm and taking off.

His eyes darted around as he took in the alleyway; damp and dark and musty, where now there seemed a dead calm when there had just been such life.

* * *

><p><strong>So? R&amp;R and tell me your thoughts! :D<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

_A shorter installment! Had to get this up so I can write a paper tomorrow, so I had to end it somewhere. More to come as soon as possible, and as always, tell me your thoughts! I swear I want to hear them. I adore my readers and reviewers. Enjoy. - Air_

* * *

><p>Three days. It'd been three days since she left her house.<p>

Caroline called in sick to school for two days and was spending her Tuesday moping and padding around her house in sweat pants and camisole; her hair in a messy bun. She poured herself a bowl of cheerios and orange juice and slumped into the armchair in the living room, mindlessly changing the channels from daytime talk show to daytime talk show.

She was hibernating and she knew it. There was no picking her up out of this. She had no one to talk to, no one to turn to, and when you make out with the world's oldest and most evil vampire with human blood all over your mouth, it's kind of a big deal. Especially when it was also incredibly _hot. _

She was stuck in that awful purgatory of regret and doubt and guilt that ripped your insides to shreds and nothing short of an anxiety attack could kill it.

She dug out her phone from in between the cushions of the couch and wasn't able to reprimand herself before she sent a text:

_Hey. Can you come over? I really need someone rn. _

It was to Elena.

After seven excruciating minutes her phone vibrated.

_Of course. Everything ok? _

Shit. Caroline knew that with this particular feeling it always seemed as if the only thing that would make her feel better would be to tell someone everything, but to actually do it was excruciating and half the time she'd regret it even more. The shame was just too much.

_I think. I'll explain when you're here. _

Her skin was crawling; she couldn't sit still. And she wanted to renege on her text to Elena but thought she'd better not burn any more bridges there. Fed up with Maury and The Price is Right, she stalked heavily upstairs and made for her bed, hoping it would swallow her whole.

When she pushed open her door and crossed the threshold into her room she jumped and emitted a small squeak into the air of the pleasantly silent house.

"Oh my God," she cried. "What are you doing here?"

Klaus was standing by her window.

"You missed lunch today," he said.

"I'm not hungry," she said with a pout and plopped on her bed, tucking a leg under her and dangling the other. She searched behind her for a large stuffed animal that she cradled in her lap and held against her stomach.

"Oh, I doubt that, darling," he said and made a move to sit beside her at the foot of her bed.

She glanced over and instantly took him in. His simple black v-neck t-shirt, a grey jacket and his hair perfectly mussed as always. His ever present 5 o'clock shadow, his blue eyes like daggers and his horrible, horrible mouth.

She turned away from him and curled herself into the fetal position on her bed.

"Please just go away," she said in a small voice.

"Have I upset you?" he asked in a surprisingly gentle and equally as small voice.

"Yes!" she cried and buried her face into her stuffed animal.

He fell backwards onto her bed, his knees dangling off the edge, and he lay on his back, facing the ceiling, hands under his head, a good foot away from her.

"Well cheer up, I have a surprise for you," he said and nudged her back with his elbow.

"Leave me alone, Klaus," she said through the pillow and the result was a muffled mess.

He shrugged. "I can wait. I'm not doing anything today."

They lay like that as she ignored him for about forever and twelve minutes longer until her doorbell rang and she shot up from her crouched position instantly.

"Crap. Elena."

"Oh, this should be fun," he said and made no attempt to move.

"Seriously? Are you trying to make my life a living hell?"

He simply raised an eyebrow and curled his lips upward into a Grinch like smirk, to which she responded by hurling her pillow around and hitting him square in the chest.

"Hello?" she heard the click of her front door and Elena's voice tentatively calling out for life in the Forbes house. "Caroline?"

Caroline grabbed his arm and started to pull, but it was limp and lifeless and he was not budging. With a frustrated grunt she reached her arm around his middle so she could get a better grip and be able to hurl him off, but he quickly rolled over and flipped her onto her back, landing comfortably—for him at least—on top of her, their noses just inches from one another.

"Ugh," she groaned again and curled her hands into tiny fists around his collar and hurled them both at vamp speed up and off of the bed. She backpedaled him straight into her closet.

She could hear Elena's footsteps ascending up the stairs, her hair whipped around her as she turned to Klaus and said in a hushed voice, "Okay, if you refuse to leave like some stubborn teenage boy, _fine._ But stay in here and if you so much as fake breathe too loud I swear I will chop you up into hundreds of tiny pieces and feed them to your stupid hybrids." And she slammed the door closed on his unbearably smarmy grin.

"Care?"

She whirled around and slapped on a bright, fake smile. "Elena!" she said and bounced onto her bed, swinging her feet nervously above the floor. "Thank you _so_ much for coming."

"I skipped history, Ric said it was okay if you needed me," Elena said and darted her eyes around the room.

"And I do! I definitely do!" Caroline said enthusiastically and then fell silent. She had no idea what she was going to do. Her eyes darted to the closet before she could help herself. Elena's eyes followed, clouded with suspicion.

"What's going on, Caroline?" she said and crossed her arms.

She felt like a flopping fish out of water for several seconds as she opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again like gasping gills. "I just…needed to tell you how sorry I am for the way I've been acting," she began.

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Okay, well you could have just called, or come over tonight. Why now?"

"It's just been hard," Caroline started and felt a rush of emotion barreling through her veins and spilling into the ducts behind her eyes and threatening to sting. "What with Tyler almost killing me. And then Klaus being the person who made me realize I wanted to live," she said and began to cry. She wiped away the tears emphatically as Elena softened and sat down on the bed next to her.

"Care, you've been through so much. But the important thing is that you're alive," Elena said and rubbed Caroline's shoulder hoping that her touch would provide comfort.

"I don't know what to think anymore," Caroline said, a fresh flow of tears streaming down her face.

"Come here," Elena said and opened her arms, into which Caroline readily sunk and let herself rely on the support of Elena's center. She stroked Caroline's hair and placed her cheek upon the top of her head and waited.

"I have to get back to class, Care, I'm sorry," Elena said.

"Of course," Caroline said and sat up, plastering on her accepting smile and nodding. "Go."

Elena got up to leave. "I'll see you soon?" she asked tentatively. They both knew their relationship had been on the rocks over the past several weeks.

Caroline nodded and watched her head down the stairs. She heard a soft click and remembered what was in her closet but made no move to get up or even look his way. She was drained, exhausted. Her head felt heavy and her heart deader than ever. It was drained of energy and life and she had no more emotion for the moment.

Klaus came upon her, looking down with the same look he had worn when he visited her bedroom once before. She saw it and dropped her head with a sigh.

"How about that surprise, sweetheart?" he said and lifted her chin with his pointer finger.

"You're evil," she said simply. Wearily. It was a fact. The entire problem before her.

"No such thing," he whispered and crouched down in front of her. "There are just people. Each one of us has hopes, dreams, desires, weaknesses….loyalties. That's all anything in the world is made up of."

She nodded despite herself. She felt she understood him and she was too emotionally fatigued to fight it.

"Thank you for saving my life," she whispered and broke eye contact. Stripped of all armor she found herself bashful before him. His gaze was too intent; too piercing.

"Come on," he said and curled his hand under hers where it lay on the bed and gently tugged. "Let's get you out of the house."

She found she didn't much care to protest.

* * *

><p>"What are we doing here?" she asked with more chirp in her voice than earlier. The oddly warm winter air had helped to rejuvenate her and repair her to her usual self.<p>

Caroline stood in a small clearing, thick woods around half of it in a ring, while the other half fell off to become a rocky cliff. The view was stunning, even in winter.

"This," Klaus said and stretched out his arms in an attempt to cultivate the entire space. "…is our new training camp," he finished emphatically.

"Looks an awful lot like a clearing in the woods," Caroline said, unimpressed.

She could see Klaus clench his teeth and swallow his frustration before speaking again in the same calm, mannered voice. She couldn't help but break a smile, silently laughing at his expense.

"It's not much but it's an excellent sparring space," he continued.

"Sparring?" What was he getting at?

"And this tree over here?" He said and pointed to a towering, Goliath maple and then reached behind him and dipped his hand under the hem of his shirt, returning with a thin, flat dagger and threw it.

The metal spun and landed deep within the bark of the tree's trunk, only the hilt was left visible. Caroline's eyes widened.

"I'm guessing up until now you've relied on your strength," he said.

"Well, yeah," she said matter of factly.

"That's all well and good. And likely to be all you need, but developing some technique has never hurt," he said.

"Technique? Like what, karate? Kickboxing?" she asked but suddenly gasped and jumped. Klaus was behind her, having twisted her arm behind her back, and she found she was unable to move.

For a moment sheer dread washed over her. She struggled against him as her brain seemed to become inflamed with panic signals sent out to every synaptic cleft of every nerve ending in her body, but she found she couldn't move.

"I'm stronger than you, Caroline," he whispered harshly into her ear and twisted her arm further. She winced.

"Stop it, you're hurting me," she practically begged. It sounded pathetic and she knew it.

"So the question is, how do you beat a vampire who's stronger than you are," he said and released his grasp from her arm. She spun around furiously and snapped a hand out to grab his jugular, but he deflected the motion and sent her spinning backwards with a thud on the thawing ground.

"Or better yet, how to evade a wolf bite?"

That hit a nerve. She looked above her, laying on her back, at the murky gray sky for several seconds, allowing herself to fume and her anger to build within her. She sat up, feeling the dampness of the ground through her sweatpants and swiping stray leaves of grass from her hair. She was _not_ feeling attractive.

She huffed, her legs were sprawled out in front of her unceremoniously and her back was slouched forward. "I didn't exactly sign up for boot camp," she said.

"Oh, you'll learn to love it," he smiled and extended a hand. She took it begrudgingly, resigned to glower and pout as much as possible for the rest of the outing. When she got to her feet he lingered, still holding her hand. "As happens with all difficult things that simply require patience and a little effort," he said with an absolute sincerity that burned in his eyes that she questioned the true intent behind his words.

* * *

><p>The next few weeks went by in a happy blur. No more dragging her feet, no more moping and anxious frustration. She was able to get it all out now by fighting—sparring, rather—with Klaus.<p>

She felt determined. Stronger, quicker, driven. She felt like she saw the world sharpen before her eyes and she loved it. She had a routine, a schedule, a purpose. Things to look forward to.

They ran together at night Mondays through Thursdays. She still took her lunch period on Tuesdays to perfect her feeding. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and every other Saturday they trained at the clearing. Sundays were for rest.

She started to notice patterns, habits of living this new way. She slept like a rock every night, never once stirred. She was filled with energy every day that hummed and buzzed throughout her fingers and toes but by the time the moon was high and the night dark, she had nothing left until the next day.

She found herself coming back to Klaus' place for stolen hospital blood bags after workouts. She grew comfortable rummaging through his fridge, helping herself. She started showering in the spare bathroom in the upstairs hall and occasionally stayed there between their training and their nightly running session. She would do her homework, or pretend to, as he lit the fire and read old, musty books.

They weren't particularly warm. It wasn't domestic. It was more like co-existence. Like living in barracks. Except the barracks were a beautifully remodeled mansion and her co-soldier was a thousand year old vampire with really good style and deliciously sharp cheekbones.

But that was beside the point.

"You need to get some more O negative. You're running low," Caroline said in between ducking, hooking her fist from the left, another duck, a swing.

"Why don't we go out for a fresh snack," he offered, casually blocking all of her efforts with precision. Her blows grew more rapid and urgent as she grew aggravated at the ease with which he could deflect her.

"Uh-uh," she said and used her vamp speed to rush behind him. "No way," and she promptly kicked him behind the knee so that he buckled. She rushed towards him and held him in a vice grip, her arm digging into his trachea as she squeezed. With his free arm he latched onto her and lurched forward, sending her tumbling over his shoulder and landing sprawled out on the ground with him.

"Why not, love?" he asked but before she answered she charged him and barreled him backwards. His back hit the grass with a flat thud and she managed to straddle him and squeeze out a forceful right hook to his jaw before he could recover and respond.

She raised her first again but he caught it in his palm and held it suspended in the air. "Come on, why not?" he continued and used his hold on her fist to hurl her to the side, effectively swapping their positions. Klaus was now neatly on top of her and pinned her arms flat to the ground above her head and he had bested her this round, as in every round.

She let out a wrangled grunt of irritation at her predicament. "Things end badly when we take this freak show of ours out in public," she said.

And suddenly she was all too aware of him on top of her, his hips pinning her hips, his hands snaked around her arms and his lean, hard chest against hers.

"Do they?" he inquired, seemingly curious but with a roguish suggestiveness underneath. He leaned forward, inching closer and closer to her and she could feel her entire body flush with heat. He was descending upon her, centimeter by excruciating centimeter, and all she could do was stare at his lips nearing her own.

When they touched hers it was soft and velvety; so different from the first time. He grazed hers lightly, tentatively almost, until she parted her lips slightly and his meshed, like fitting pieces of a puzzle together. Even when he deepened the kiss, it remained a slow, languorous thing. It wasn't feverish, it was hypnotic.

When he broke away she was paralyzed. He detached his hands from her arms and still she lay there. He curled his pointer finger and with the flat section between his two knuckles, traced down her arm, to her shoulder, over her collarbone, and up to her jaw line. She tried searching his visage for a sign, an implication of his next move, but he simply rested there, several moments going by without stirring; she simply gazed upon him with a mixture of fear and wonderment.

"Now I suppose they're going horribly wrong in public and in private," he said quietly, his breath tickling her nose, and with no presumption of his usual cheeky attitude.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm a tease, I know.<strong> **Things heat up next chapter! ;) **

**R&R to speed me up! **


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry for the delay in updating! I'm stupidly taking on two fics at the same time __and attempting to have a life! So here's an extra long chapter for you fine readers. Read and review? It'll encourage me ;) Oh, and I just generally want feedback and thoughts. And as always, these two attractive jerks aren't mine, I just borrow them during long hiatuses. - Air _

* * *

><p>Caroline was furious.<p>

She had finally reached a point of calm, of determination, and he was selfish enough to take that away from her.

She felt like she was being enveloped and devoured by a black hole of darkness and it stomped upon her chest and applied pressure whenever she thought of its presence. Of course, she'd been walking along a tightrope just above it, hoping not to trip and fall for weeks now. But still, she liked flirting with it, not kissing it.

It'd been a week since he kissed her on the grass of the clearing and he hadn't made a move since. She was frustrated, as she always seemed to be lately, and confused. Naturally she refused to make a move, but she expected him to keep trying. Instead he had played the part of the perfect gentleman.

It infuriated her.

Every workout. Every training session. Every drink—was all strictly business.

"Are you mad at me or something?" she finally asked one day when returning to his house. He was on his way up the stairs for a shower and hadn't said a word since they were up on the clearing.

Klaus stopped jogging up the stairs and turned to look down at her. "Why would you ask that, love?" he said, sweetly as ever.

She felt awkward and self-conscious all of a sudden. She felt like a child. Like a stupid teenager.

"I don't know, you haven't really been saying much of anything…doing much of anything lately," she said sheepishly.

Klaus paused for a long moment before clunking his boot on the wooden stair below where he was standing. "I assure you," he said and began to indolently, deliberately, thump a heavy boot on each step as he made her way towards her. "If I'm angry, you'll know it," he finished, dark shadows striking his face peculiarly from the lamp fixture in the foyer.

"Okay, whatever," Caroline shrugged. "Apathetic then."

"What do you expect me to being doing, Caroline?" he drawled as he reached her at the bottom of the steps.

"It's nothing, nevermind," she said and turned away, but he grabbed her armed and swung her back towards him. The velocity of his pull was swift and strong, and she landed a step further than where she had previously stood and ended up crashing into his chest. He caught her hands and held them to his chest, simultaneously steadying her and locking her into him. It was the closest they had been to one another without throwing a punch and it immediately set her on edge.

She looked at him, so close to her, and searched for a readable sign in his face. Where there was usually so much written, now it was like stone.

He let a hand go, but she kept it resting upon his chest, and brushed his knuckles along her jaw. She sucked in a breath and he leaned forward, brushed her nose with his, and hovered just above her lips. Her eyes wisped shut and she waited, but nothing came.

"Caroline," he whispered and she opened her eyes. "Ball's in your court, sweetheart."

He pulled away and made his way up the stairs, leaving her dumbfounded and rather unbalanced. 

* * *

><p>Okay, she had to make a decision.<p>

Caroline was in class; trigonometry of all things, and furiously tapping her pencil on her notebook. She had claimed a seat in the back by the window early in the year and was happy to be there now.

It was one of the first truly warm days in March and she wished to be one of the birds chirping outside. A soft breeze escaped through the crack in the window and wisped through her hair.

She was going to make a pros and cons list. She flung her notebook open and drew a line down the center of the page.

_Pro: good at kissing. _

_Con: evil_

_Con: super evil_

_Pro: really good bone structure_

_Pro: dresses impeccably _

_Pro: hot_

_Con: annoying_

_Con: unpredictable_

_Con: probably still kills people_

_Pro: he likes me _

Did he like her? She guessed so. Why else would he be spending so much time with her? Helping her…teaching her. Unless…

Did he just want to get in her pants? Is he using her for something?

Either way the stupid list came out even. Some help that exercise was.

She scratched out her list furiously with the tip of her pencil and it made a squeaking sound against the paper. She flinched, as did about five other people. She looked up to see Brian from the soccer team gawking at her and she made a face at him. He turned back around in his seat.

By sixth period she was in a mood and she planned to take it out on the cheerleading team after school. Caroline was surly and grumpy and generally uninterested in being in school with all of the deadheaded losers roaming the halls.

At her locker she felt her phone buzz and pulled it out of her jeans. It was Bonnie. _Hey. It's gorgeous out. Snacks at the Grill after practice? We can sit outside. _

Caroline tongued her cheek. She was trying to be good. Repair relationships and all that. It wasn't one of her training days so…. _Why not? Sounds great! _

Just then Brian toolbag brushed by her. "Bitch," he murmured and kept walking. Her eyes narrowed.

She now had a mission. She was glad; at least it'd make the day more bearable.

She managed to find her French teacher by the bathroom and compel her to excuse her from class and made her way towards the principal's office. She then compelled the secretary to call Brian Toolbag to the front desk; he had a message waiting for him.

Then she slipped into a nearby janitor's closet, pulled the door shut just until the latch bumped up against the frame, and waited. When Brian came strolling down the empty hallway, she perked her ears up and gauged just when he'd be in her line of attack. Once his right foot aligned horizontally with the door, it swung open and she snatched him by the collar and whipped into the closet at super speed.

"What the fuck—" Brian yelled but her hand latched onto his throat and squeezed his trachea before it could reverberate and carry into the hall.

"Shhh," she said and brought a finger to her lips.

She waited a few moments, let his sight adjust so that he could see her. The whites of his eyes glowed in the dark and were wide with fear and confusion. He was trying to get short breaths past her hold on him, but he was struggling.

"Hi," she said in a sickly sweet voice and waved her fingers at him.

He tried to say something but she clamped down on his throat harder and it came out as a gurgled mess.

"Now," she said. "This is how this is going to work. You pissed me off. And it just so happens to not really be my day. Or my week….or month for that matter," she said and scrunched her eyebrows for an instant lost in thought, looking away from him.

His hand managed to snake behind him and latch onto a broom, but she swatted it away easily when he tried to swing it at her.

"So," she piped up again, un-fazed. "I'm going to bite your neck and drink your blood. It's going to hurt and you're probably going to be scared. I could compel you to stay calm, but to tell you truth, I kinda want you to struggle."

Brian eyes widened in fear and he tried to struggle with all of his athletic strength. He panicked even more when he discovered he was no match for her.

"Then when I'm finished I'm going to erase your memory and you're going to give me compliments whenever you pass me in the halls just so I can remember that I own you."

Caroline stepped forward, closer to him, and extended her fangs.

"Got it?" she asked and he nodded out of blind fear. "Good," she smiled and dipped down, ready to take her first solo drink and count to ten. 

* * *

><p>Her entire body was buzzing with energy and excitement. She could barely contain herself, and no amount of cheerleading practice was going to calm her, so she decided to skip.<p>

She hopped in her car and took off, burning rubber and making sure to open all of the windows and the sunroof.

When she pulled up to Klaus' house and got out of her car, her hair was tangled and windblown, but she didn't notice. She practically ran to the front door and swung it open with fervor.

"Klaus?" she called out as she burst into the foyer. But for all of the energy she brought with her, the place was eerily still. She began to roam through the rooms excitedly. He had to be here someone; he never went anywhere. "Hey, Nik!" she yelled. She tore through the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, sitting room, and upstairs and still nothing. "What the hell," she whispered under her breath.

Finally she ventured out back, where she'd never been, and found a gorgeous stone patio that led to a pool designed to look like a pond. Heavy trees and brush covered most of the acreage, but to the left she found a nicely kept patch of land.

"A garden?" she said as she came upon him weeding in the middle of the patch. He was crouched down and shifted his feet to face her. His face was smudged with dirt and sweat and his hair mussed, and he smirked. No doubt he'd known she was there since she threw open the front door, but she didn't mind. She had other things racing through her mind that were more urgent.

"You know, do you even have a cell phone? You should really get a cell phone. I mean, I know you're a thousand years old and everything and have no friends but it's just practical so you don't look like some freak who's anti technology." She was talking a mile a minute and was not about to slow down. Klaus stood up and gazed upon her in silent amusement.

"What I'm trying to say is that I totally fed on Brian the toolbag today at school and pulled it off and I did it!" she exclaimed excitedly and clapped her hands together in celebration.

"I'm proud, love" he said calmly, breaking into a tight-lipped grin.

She wasn't listening to him though because she flung herself towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck and hoisted herself up so that her legs wrapped around his waist. He'd reacted instantly, holding under each of her thighs and swung her around.

Caroline giggled, but then sobered and heavy thoughts entered her mind again. She knew this was it; this was the moment she had to take action. So she furrowed her brow, licked her lips and leaned in close to him. She kept her eyes open until the last second, when her lips were just hovering above his, parted and quivering. She shut her eyes and willed herself to do it.

But she couldn't. She just froze.

She tried to keep her eyes shut and make the situation go away. It was too awkward to possibly face. But Klaus let go of his hold on her and they flew open as she felt herself dropping. She landed on her feet, but with a bit of a plop.

She looked down at her feet for a while and bit her bottom lip. She wasn't being fair and she knew it. She drew her gaze up to his and opened her mouth to explain. What she would say? She wasn't sure of yet, but she wanted to at least apologize. Before she could say anything he cut her off.

"You can go," he said low, like a warning. He looked wild and rough and murderous and she didn't want to leave, but her better judgment told her otherwise.

She nodded dejectedly and left, quietly and downtrodden and very differently than she had entered. 

* * *

><p>She skipped out on the Grill with Bonnie that day, decided to go home and lay in her bed despite the beauty of the outdoors. Spring and sunshine and happiness had no place for Caroline Forbes. Not at the moment.<p>

Caroline pulled her duvet up over her head and pouted, but was interrupted by her phone buzzing. She pulled it out from under her pillow.

She had a text from Elena. _Brian Murphy has an interesting wound on his neck. Any idea how that happened? _

Rage bubbled inside of her at the tone of the message. She scrunched her nose and typed a simple and dismissive _Nope_ in response and turned off her phone. It wasn't like anyone who mattered was going to call her anyway. He didn't even have a stupid phone.

She lay still under the covers for several minutes before she grew restless. She was getting drunk tonight and that was that.

So what does a girl do when she goes to a bar alone with no one to hang out with and even more importantly, no one to buy her drinks? Luckily, for Caroline, she could compel herself from lovely male friends. Male friends who surrounded her in a circle, bought her shots and did nothing but entertain her. She was the center attention and she loved it.

She was on her fifth shot of tequila by the time Elena and Bonnie arrived, which was enough to annoy her but not enough to be a buzz kill. Even when they approached her.

"Your friends?" Elena asked.

Caroline swung her arm around a nice blonde guy. "Yes, actually," she said cheerily and a gaggle of male laughs rang out. She could tell Bonnie was suspicious; she had that suspicious eye to her. To be fair it did make up about sixty percent of her facial expressions though.

"We're having a great time," Caroline added. "Aren't we boys?" Another round of agreement all in unison.

Bonnie surveyed the guys and crossed her arms. "Compelled? Really, Caroline?"

Caroline ignored Bonnie's pointed look and pinched the cheek of another one. "Shots!" she called out and another was placed before her. She quickly downed it and tapped the bar for another.

"How many is that?" Elena asked.

"Seven, but luckily for me I'm a vampire and unluckily for you, you're not my mother," Caroline said in her most perfected cheerleader bitchy voice.

Elena and bonnie shared a look. The look of fun killers. "Look, Caroline, we don't know what did to upset you—" Elena began but was cut off.

"Hey do you know if Klaus has a cell phone?" Caroline blurted out, the alcohol finally starting to hit her.

"Excuse me?" Elena asked in disbelief.

"I mean he must, right? Most evilest vampire in the land. He's got to have one. Oh!—" Caroline's train of thought shifted suddenly. "I'll ask Stefan—do you know where he is?"

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie asked, but Caroline ignored her and snapped her fingers for another shot to be delivered to her, which it was, and promptly.

When she snapped her head back to its usual level her eyes locked on something across the room. "Oh, speak of the devil," she said and without warning barreled through the girls in front of her and took off.

She wormed through the crowd until she bumped right into the object of her desire.

"Stefan!" she exclaimed with a wide smile. "Hi!"

"Hey, Caroline," he said evenly.

"Elena and Bonnie are over there. You should join them, I bet you three would make the most _fun_ group," she said sarcastically, but hid it under her usual veil of sweetness. She slapped his shoulder. "Sorry I can't join, but gotta run," she said and made her move to brush by him but tripped over his boot and tumbled forward. Stefan caught her and hoisted her up.

"Thanks," she said.

"Anytime," he replied, ever bemused, but made sure she was steady on her feet before nodding curtly and letting her walk by.

Once she was outside she slipped a hand up her opposite sleeve and pulled out a phone. Stefan's phone. Caroline smiled and flipped it open, rolling her eyes at how archaic it was.

She found the number she was looking for and dialed.

"Stefan," Klaus answered with a growl.

"It's me," she said, more shyly than she had wanted to.

"Caroline?" he said.

She paused. She had no idea what she was doing. What was her endgame? It kind of stopped at the phone curiosity. Now that she found a way to contact him she was at a loss.

"So you have a phone," she said.

"Very perceptive," he drawled.

She waited. He didn't say anything. She cursed silently and squeezed her eyes tight. The silence was excruciating. It was like they were in a silent treatment fight to the death and she so badly wanted to end it but nothing—absolutely nothing—would escape from her lips, no matter how many times she opened and closed them again.

She heard a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. "Up for a run?" he finally said. 

* * *

><p>She didn't even bother to knock on the door, she walked right in and dropped her purse on its usual table and began to run up the stairs to get her things and change.<p>

"Hello to you too, love," Klaus called from the bottom of the steps and she stopped short of the top step and pivoted around.

"Hi," she said meekly. I'm just going to—" she trailed off and just made an awkward gesturing motion with her thumb towards the spare room where she kept a gym bag.

He held her in a stare for a moment until—"By all means," and swept his hand out in from of him.

"Okay," she said in a squeaky voice, slicing the two syllables in half at the 'k'.

When she came downstairs she found him at the bar, pouring a drink.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she pulled her hair back to tie it.

"Well I figured if you're going for a run while inebriated I may as well too." He said with a smug smile and knocked back a shot of whiskey.

"Am not!" she protested but figured it was fruitless. She pouted and sank back against the wall, waiting. "Are you ready yet?"

"How many have you had?" he asked while pouring another.

"Seven," she said, sulking.

"Pity," he said.

"Why?"

"I'm on ten," he said and sucked down another.

Caroline seethed. He was being so annoying, what with his apathetic tons of voice and his dismissive attitude. He would only look at her in glances anymore. His eyes were always elsewhere.

She reached forward and snatched the bottle from his grasp, brought it to her lips, threw her head back and gulped. When she was finished she shoved it into his chest and let go before he had a proper grasp on it.

"There," she said. "We're even, let's go."

Caroline was pretty drunk by the time they set off that she didn't even complain when he began to strip off his clothes. She just groaned and turned away.

The run was refreshing at first. She felt lighter and more focused and liked the feeling of her feet as they pounded upon the earth. But the more the warm night air enveloped her, the more disoriented she became and the more unsteady.

Somewhere deep in the woods, after a few miles, she began to slow her pace, and Klaus—in wolf form—seemed to follow, though she had only peripheral awareness of him by her side.

Her strides became increasingly slower, her feet clunky and heavy, but she'd feel weak if she stopped before the ten-mile point and she refused to show any more weakness tonight. She tried to focus on a far off point ahead and keep it steady. It was working for a while until she lost it completely. It slid upwards and away as she realized she was falling flat on her face.

It was instantaneous and delivered a strangely severe blow. She lifted her head from the leaves and groaned. Everything was blurry and spinning. And oddly…damp. Klaus was licking her forehead. Why?

She hoisted herself up on her palms and sat back on her heels.

His eyes were glowing yellow and he barked at her. She glared back.

"Please just go away," she said and stood up, brushing soil off of her knees. He barked again. And again. She couldn't' stand it. Caroline brought her hand to her head and clamped them down into her hair, pulling some loose strands free from her ponytail.

And then he whined, circled around once and began to change back to human form. She heard the crack and pop of bones and cringed. When he appeared, naked and curled up among the leaves, she threw a handful at him, stood up and turned her back to him.

"Seriously?" she said in a disgusted voice and crossed her arms.

"Caroline," he said and touched her shoulder with his hand. "Come on, let me see?" and urged her to turn around. She did so begrudgingly and deliberately looked passed him.

"Stop it, I'm fine," she said defiantly but his thumb grazed her forehead and came back bloodied. She didn't even feel it. Klaus brought his thumb to his mouth and licked it clean, savoring her blood on his lips.

The hairs on her arm instantly stood up and a shiver ran through her. She took in his bare chest with her peripheral vision but refused to let her eyes travel down. But while she was controlling her gaze, she lost control over her body, and found it instinctively leaning closer to his as if it were magnetized.

Again she stopped short. Stalled by something, but she had no idea what. Klaus' face contorted in frustration and anger and he let out a low growl and stepped back from her.

"You're trying my patience, Caroline," he bit out crossly, looking at her from under hooded, darkening eyes.

"Me? Your patience?" she said incredulously and pointed her index finger at him. "You started all of this. You. And now you're the only playing games with me!"

"That's rich coming from you," he said with a sardonic little laugh.

"Don't you get it?" she practically screamed. "I can't _do _anything. I'm incapable. Of action, or doing, of any sort of active verb. I can't!"

Klaus stalked towards her again and invaded her personal space, but this time threateningly, and not at all seductively.

"Yes you can," he said and she took a step backwards, to which he parried with another step towards her.

"Stop it," she bit out through clenched teeth.

"What are you going to do, sweetheart?" he challenged.

"Don't," she warned and when he didn't listen she lifted her fist and delivered a fierce right hook to his jaw. His head snapped back from the force and when he recomposed himself he wore a wicked smile.

"That's my girl," he said.

"I am not your girl."

Klaus grabbed her by both arms and began to stalk her backwards, ramming her into a nearby tree so forcefully that her feet lifted off the ground for an instant. When they hit the ground again he crashed his lips into hers and gave no opportunity for her to protest. His body collided with hers and she gasped at the feeling of his semi-hard package against the thin material of her spandex.

He took the opportunity to invade her mouth with his tongue and she whimpered at his insistency. He seemed to take the noise as a signal to move forward and tucked his fingers into the elastic waistband of her spandex shorts, ripped them straight down the middle and discarded them in shreds over his shoulder.

Caroline suddenly found herself surging forward, kissing him back with the same violent dueling of tongues. She gained the upper hand, was winning the battle, hers invading his mouth now until she broke away to emit a loud moan—Klaus had just pushed her panties aside and shoved two fingers inside of her without warning. She was sopping wet. Her muscles clenched around them and ached for more. He pumped his fingers in and out—fast and rough—and moved to nip and suckle at her neck while she gasped in appreciation.

"You my girl now?" he said in a gruff, raspy voice right against her ear that sent electric currents through her entire body.

Her hands raked up and down his bare chest. "No," she said, breathy but resolved.

She felt him smile against her collarbone as he lifted her leg up and around his hip, slipping his fingers out of her in order to tear away her tank top and lift her sports bra up and over her head. He yanked off her sneaker with a coarse tug and she hopped on her other foot to kick off the other.

Her hands clamped down on his shoulders and her lips captured his again so furiously that she didn't notice that he had readied himself at her entrance. Without warning he surged his hips and thrust the entire length of his cock inside her.

Caroline clamped down on his bottom lip in surprise and emitted a grunt as she adjusted to his size. He had driven so eagerly into her that her free leg lifted off the ground and her toes just barely grazed the leaves below. Her back had scratched along the rough bark of the tree and burned in the best possible way.

Her eyes saw white dots dancing in front of her and her mouth tasted the gorgeous metallic quality of blood. She had drawn blood from his lip and once she realized she began suckling on it just as Klaus began to pump inside of her, first in slow, deep thrusts and then faster and less rhythmic.

She threw her other leg around him and he held her hips in place against the tree so that he could control all movement, allowing her to rise and fall only in sync with him. Caroline realized this and threw her arms around his neck, trailed them down his back and scratched long and deep with her nails. She could tell she drew blood and smiled—eyes closed and in ecstasy—when he began fucking her harder, if that was even possible.

It had never been like this for Caroline before, and every sensation she felt was new and on fire. The bark was tearing up her back and burned. His cock was tearing up her cunt and burned—oh so good.

He was grunting, working hard to fuck her good and proper, but his face was buried in the crook of her neck and she wanted to see it. So she latched on to a fistful of his hair and yanked back. Hard. When she saw his face the veins around his eyes were bulging and his fangs protruded and she quickly transformed her own face to match his. They locked eyes despite the ragged and staccato rhythm of their movements.

"How about now?" he asked and she gazed down upon him, still seeing those white sparks.

She opened her mouth to answer but instead let out a deep groan. She closed her eyes tight, licked her lips and tried to focus on a thought, any thought. A single thought. He was making it hard for her to do and it wasn't fair that he was trying to talk to her right now and actually expected an answer.

She managed to muster up enough focus to bite out a word at the finish of a thrust. "Not." Thrust. "A." Thrust. "Chance." Thrust.

"Good," he said and delved his head down, towards her neck and sank his teeth into her flesh. Caroline's eyes flew open and she came with a violent shudder throughout her entire body. Her muscles tightened, practically clamped down around him and milked him for all he was worth until he followed suit and came inside of her.

A blanket of serenity washed over her as she seemed to gently float down towards earth, her feet hitting its surface like a strange cushion. She felt disoriented, strange and different somehow, as if she were returning to a world slightly askew from how she remembered it.

Klaus was intently lapping at the wound on her neck, savoring the last droplets of blood and cleaning it. When he was finished he lifted his eyes to hers but neither had any words to say.

He silently searched for where he threw her bra and brought it to her. She pulled it on but grimaced as it settled across her back. He was instantly behind her, surveying the damage from the tree bark. He danced his fingers over the wounds lightly, but she winced and pulled away from his touch. The skin on her back was shredded.

"Here," he said softly and extended his wrist to her.

She looked down, felt dazed and a little confused, and shook her head. "No, thanks. I'll be fine," she said mildly and offered him a gentle smile before taking a tentative step forward so she could be on her way home. She took a few more and realized she was hobbling and very, very sore.

"Walk you back to your car, love? I'll grab a clean shirt for you," he called after her.

She shook her head again. "Just, um…go ahead and leave it in the mailbox," she said and began walking again, but stopped short of a few more steps. She turned. "Thanks," she added and waited for him to speed ahead of her, which he only did after several excruciating seconds of hesitation.

Once he was out of sight she set off in the same direction, but slower, dazed and oddly content.

* * *

><p><em>Thoughts? Was I good to you? ;) <em>


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